Twenty Seconds Tops
by Wren Wild
Summary: It went unspoken that Naruto would do everything in his power to prevent Akatsuki from taking his demon...And who was death to stand in his way? Everyone dies at some point...


A/N: this little idea of a one shot has been hanging around for a while, and strangely, it hasn't mutated besides for the hint of an idea that it might _not_be a oneshot, but perhaps it could turn into a crossover. I told the plot bunny no. As much I adore bleachXnaruto crossvers, if I attempted one, I'd murder it. If you don't entirely get what I'm talking about, go to anime6 . org and watch naruto shippudden episode 14 part 2 and up for the episodes I'm referencing before the line break. Just take out the spaces. After the line break, it's all me. If you happen to find any mistakes, tell me, and at some point in the unforeseeable future I'll fix them (...maybe). rated M for language. and death.

Written while listening to Let You Down by Three Days Grace.

Enjoy the death!fic._YAY _for death fics...I swear I'll work on N.E.H. after this. _Really!_

* * *

When Jiraiya had talked to him about what to do if he ever got caught in a genjustu, he had payed attention _(because they were hunting him)_, even gone so far to ask what he should do if disrupting the chakra flow didn't work. He didn't like the answer.

Jiraiya had looked at him, as he tried his best to ring as much of the water as he could after falling in the river they were beside, and said completely seriously,

"When that happens, you give up. At that point, you're out of luck. Giving up is all you can do. That's just how it goes with genjustu."

He had sighed, and asked what the point of making him fall in the river was, and kept listening as Jiraiya had said that he still had a chance if his teammates were around to force their chakra into him, therefore disrupting the chakra flow and canceling the genjustu_(of course, it went unspoken what he would have to do if his teammates weren't around)._

And that night, when he woke up in front of his tenant's cell, for some odd reason, he chose to listen then too. The demon said that he was pathetic, weak _(no suprise there), _but if it came to it, he'd rather spend eternity locked in a metaphysical seal _(dead, is what he was saying, he'd rather be dead and still in the seal that bound him to his vessel)_than be the slave to greedy power hungry and insane mortals. He wasn't sure weather to be flattered or not, but regardless, what was left unsaid in the day was growled out now:

If_(When)_ it became apparent that he would loose_(fail)_ when fighting_(defending against)_the Akatsuki, he would kill himself _(Commit suicide. Surely it is not that hard to say?)_

And the fox wanted to help.

The nine-tailed kitsune ranted about the accomplishments of his predecessors for a while, and then got to the point : a poison he knew how to make. A strong one. According the demon that nearly destroyed konoha, one drop could kill a small army _(of demons)_, a mouthful could possibly wipe out a species if used correctly, and the amount he was going to make would kill him in twenty seconds_(tops). _

At the next village they stopped at, he bought most of herbs he needed, and stole the ones the stupid florists wouldn't sell to him. Said something about them being highly poisonous. That was why he wanted them, idiots.

When the toad sannin asked him what he was doing with the herbs, he smiled idiotically and made up some equally idiotic excuse. Jiraiya had frowned but nodded and let it go. The next day when there was a small flask_(of poison)_by his kunai pouch, Jiraiya didn't blink twice_(because he knew why he had it, and what it was for)._

When Team Kakashi was sent to rescue Gaara, he left the shiny, newer flask of poison_(newer because the liquid erroded nearly all the way through the first one)_at his appartment because his teammates were there. If he got caught in a genjustsu, He'd break it. He knew how. _(Stupid.)_

So when the Itachi clone did catch him in a genjutsu-one he could not break- he swore that when_(if)_he got back to Konoha, that flask was going right back where it belonged by his kunai pouch.

* * *

**Some ammount of time has passed after Chiyo-baasama brought Subaku no Gaara back from the dead. Akatsuki has resumed hunting the remaining demon vessals. Our favorite blond jinchuuriki was sent on a simple solo mission to retrieve something or other. An eventual run in with Uchiha Itachi was bound to happen sooner or later. **

**It happened sooner.**

* * *

Damnit, DAMNIT, _DAMNIT_!! Two and a half years of trainig, new and improved rasengen, other powerful jutsus_(meant nothing)_...he still didn't stand a chance_(he was still weak)._

He had run out of chakra a while ago, and his body couldn't take much more of Kyuubi's self-destructive chakra. He knew at least one of his ribs were broken, he really hoped it hadn't puntured a lung, but-considering the fact he'd been spitting out blood since a particuarly nasty kick to the chest thanks to one Uchiha Itachi-it was likely it had.

He reached for a kunai, and cursed when he found he had only three left. He checked a different pouch- five shuriken._(Well shit)._

"I was expecting more from the Kyuubi jinchurriki, Naruto-kun." The Uchihas could rot in hell, his promise to Sakura-chan be damned.

Three kunai and five shuriken. No chakra, and not much longer before his body couldn't take the strain his tenants chakra put on him. He wasn't a tactial genius like Shikamaru. He didn't have a way out of this. He was screwed.

He was going to die.

Strangely, that thought wasn't as frightening as he thought it would be_(he had already known he was going to die, he just hadn't known when)._

No, he did have a way out of this. His hand fell on the flask, and Naruto stilled, undecided. Either way, he was going to die_(everyone dies at some point, though. It's unavoidable), _but it'd be on his own terms. That was a helluva lot better than having half his soul rippedout along with the fox's.

He almost laughed when he saw Itachi's eyes narrow as he brought the flask to his lips, and couldn't help but wonder what the Uchiha thought it was. Naruto doubted even the Uchiha Prodigy would consider him using suicide as a means to avoid capture, but hey, he had a reputation as the number-one-most-suprizing-ninja to uphold. He drank it all in a few large swallows, and dropped the flask, gasping as the poison burned it's way down his throat.

_One..._

_Two..._

_Three..._

Both Naruto and Itachi glanced at where the flask had fallen and a few left over drops dripped onto the grass. It sizzled for a few moments before eroding through the grass entirely and going to work on the soil.

_Four..._

_Five..._

"So that's what it's doing to my insides...? Damn..." It hurt like hell, but he'd expected as much. After all, he _was dieing_. He took a brief moment to contemplate just when he had become so cynical, and decided it was some time after his best friend had tried to kill him with an A-rank assasination justu.

_Six..._

_Seven..._

_Eight..._

Naruto coughed, grimacing at the blood that he felt spatter his lips, before looking Itachi straight in the eyes and said cheekily,

"You said you expected better from me? Bet you sure as hell didn't expect me to suicide" and lauging at him bleakly before doubling over in a hacking cough. Naruto spit out more blood as he dropped to his knees, still keeping eye contact with a glaring Itachi.

_Nine..._

_Ten..._

_Eleven..._

He looked away as soon as he saw Itachi's Sharingan changing, but Naruto didn't think it really would have mattered seeing as his vision was getting blurry, pain was racing through his body, and he didn't really think it could get worse after his vision went out completely.

_Twelve..._

_Thirteen..._

_Fourteen..._

Naruto pitched forward, and realized that the ground was a lot harder when you were dieing, and the grass was tickling his nose, and would that _thup-thup-thup _of Itachi's footsteps stop already cause the fast _thumpthumpthump _of his pulse wasn't loud enough already-and Naruto realized he should probably say something memorable and heroic and gut-wrenching since Itaching was standing _right fucking next to him._

_Fifteen..._

_Sixteen..._

_Seventeen..._

But all he could up with was a mangled,

"I'm gonna see you in hell anyways so would you mind not blocking the last bit of sunlight I'll ever see, you heartless bastard?"

Which wasn't that heroic, ans was most _certainly _not gut wrenching but he didn't particularly care right now cause his vision was going black and he was all numb and...and...

_Eighteen..._

And...

_Nineteen..._

The sunlight felt good on his face, even if he couldn't really see it and wasn't sure if he was imagining it or not because he coudn't feel anything else...

_Twenty seconds Tops..._


End file.
